A Sandwich a Day: Porchetta Sub at Sauce

Sauce is Frank Prisinzano's fourth addition to his lower Manhattan restaurant group. Like Frank, Supper, and Lil' Frankies, it focuses on dressed-up red sauce fare, but also has several sandwiches on the lunch menu.

The Porchetta Italian sub ($9.95) is stuffed with thinly-sliced slow-roasted pork loin, sautéed broccoli rabe, roasted fennel, and a mild provolone cheese. It's all encased in a chewy Caputo Bakery baguette and comes with a side of lemony arugula salad that is topped with Parmigiano Reggiano. Minus the baguette and the fennel, it's more than a little like a classic Philly pork sandwich.

The pork is tender, juicy, and wonderfully fatty, and it gets some balance from the greens, but it could benefit from even more garlic and some crisper rabe. I also echo Kenji's plea for sharp provolone on these Philly classics. But even if it's not perfect, it's a porky, comforting, and plenty satisfying sandwich we'd eat again—especially if we could get some extra rabe.